Related Insights

A coalition of civil liberties organizations, including CDT, wrote to the Department of Homeland Security to express concerns with the DHS System of Records Notice, issued on September 18, 2017 that states that DHS will now store social media information in ‘Alien Files’, which include the official record of an individual’s visa and immigration history. Alien registration numbers, and their related A-File, are assigned to people who plan to make the United States their home, and also to certain categories of non-immigrants who are granted employment authorization.

Detailing our concerns with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposal—to be implemented through U.S. Customs and Border Protection—to ask Chinese recipients of the B-1, B-2, and combination B-1/B-2 visas to provide their social media identifiers on the Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS) form.

A coalition of human rights and civil liberties organizations and trade associations wrote to DHS Secretary Kelly in response to his statement at the House Homeland Security Committee hearing, that the Department of Homeland Security would consider requiring visa applicants to provide log-in information (passwords or other credentials) for their social media accounts.

We recognize the important role that DHS plays in protecting the United States’ borders and the challenges it faces in keeping the U.S. safe, but demanding passwords or other account credentials without cause will fail to increase the security of U.S. citizens and is a direct assault on fundamental rights.